


Haunted Minds

by aCanadianSlytherin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts 8th years, Nightmares, Resort for 8th years, draco redemption, dracos perspective, light mention of torture, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:02:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26545684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aCanadianSlytherin/pseuds/aCanadianSlytherin
Summary: Draco clings to the walls of Hogwarts like a ghost who can’t move on. Hermione drowns in her misery. What will happen when the Prince of Slytherin asks for forgiveness from the Princess of Gryffindor?
Relationships: Hermione/Draco, dramione
Comments: 12
Kudos: 3





	1. The things we do to survive

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone this is a little Drabble I found on my computer from 2015. I’m thinking about continuing it so I moved it off wattpad :)

\---

The wind whipped at my face stinging my already pained expression. The look in his eyes was almost too much to bare. In what universe does the man you're about to kill look at you with regret? Sympathy? I couldn't wrap my mind around the enigma that was Albus Dumbledore. My wand arm shook like a leaf . Incredulously, he smiled down at me like I was his child.

"Draco, Draco, you are not a killer"

"How do you know" I spat. My words were intended to come out as hateful, but fell short sounding like a lost child. I couldn't let him get to me. My mother...

"You don't know what I'm capable of or what i've done!' The threat I sent sounded pitiful, but I knew that he wouldn't be effected either way. The only person I needed to believe me was the Dark Lord.

"Oh, yes I do" the old man sighed " You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me Draco, but they have been feeble attempts... So feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart was really in it.."

I had never felt words cut me so deep in my life. It did comfort me for him to know that I never wanted this. I could hear the fight nearing the tower, and I panicked wanting to express how sorry I was for my actions. I tried to explain without looking weak but to no avail.

Regretfully I spoke with venom "It has been in it! I've been working on it all year and tonight-" There was a muffled shout cutting me off from below.I stiffened,. I couldn't explain... not anymore... my headmaster would soon be dead. I was sure there was someone else here, someone who hopefully understand one day. No matter how little I thought of everyone around me, I wanted someone to know I was caught up in the violence and betrayal. I never wanted to turn into the cruel twisted person I was now.

As the sounds of the fight grew near, I took one last look up into Dumbledore's eyes. I needed to say something

"I'm sorry" I whispered. Dumbledore merely smiled.

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it" At that moment a group of death eaters burst through the doors. My eyes widened as I saw Greyback among them. All I wanted to do was curse him. After telling the headmaster I didn't invite him, I couldn't focus on the events around me. Everything was surreal. The next moment I hear a shout and look up to see a serene look on my mentor's face as the killing curse struck him. I watched in absolute horror as the man I looked up to plummeted off the Astronomy Tower.


	2. Flawed

  
  
  


I woke up gasping, the memory choking the little life I had left. I could see it like it happened yesterday. The look in his eyes.... With a strangled shout I threw the covers off my bed and looked into the darkness that engulfed me. The magic filled walls that once brought me comfort, now tortured me with the things I have done and seen. I snatched my wand from the top of my trunk.

"Lumos"

A bright glow lit the room. I thanked McGonagall again for placing me in my own room. I had spent less than a night in the Slytherin dorms before there were complaints about my night terrors. The nights I woke up screaming about the horrors I revisited in my sleep. Everyone thinks I'm a monster. They are not wrong, but it doesn't sting any less. Maybe, if I had treated my classmates better I would have someone there to confide in.. to help. I don't deserve it, but I can wish. I needed some peace away from my dorm. I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. Leaving my room, I realized I forgot to disguise myself and quickly cast my own charm.

"aóratos" I mumbled as I watched my body slowly fade to nothing. This spell in particular was one of my own creation. During my sixth year I needed a more powerful charm to reach the room of requirement. I didn't underestimate Dumbledore like the rest of the Death Eaters seemed to. I assumed that a wizard as powerful as him could easily see through any disillusionment charm. The spell didn't do much since he found out, but It's useful now.

I wandered aimlessly through the halls of my home. The stone, while may seem cold to others, was calming to me. The familiarity of the school will never be lost on me. Getting down the stairs, I glanced into the great hall. Some of my best memories were right there at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle were more my lackies rather than my friends, but Blaise.... he was my only true friend and look where that got him. I never let anyone in. Lucius’s sneering voice filled my head everytime i did something I knew he would disapprove of. “ _ Malfoy’s do not need friends, our family is all we have and you will do well to remember it!”  _ Out of everything that bastard said, that was probably the only thing I should have listened to. 

Everytime i left my dorm after curfew, it was only a matter of time for me to realize where my true destination was; The Astronomy tower. It was now mid-September and I have been up the tower too many times to count. It was where I centered myself. The one place where I knew who I was. Dumbledore saw more of my true self then anyone else. And yet…. Where was his help when I needed it? My ask for asylum at the end of fifth year was ignored. I wonder sometimes if the Slytherins ever truly mattered to him. His last words to me… “Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it” The absolute gall of that man to have said that after he ignored me the year previous. My anger ended up winning out as I swung at the castle's stone wall. I stared at my bloody knuckles for a moment before letting my hand swing back to my side. I panted trying to catch my breath and continued towards the tower. I finished my hike up the stairs only to freeze. My eyes widened when I realized there was someone in my spot swinging their legs over the edge. A quiet sob broke forth from their - her, I realized - mouth. Once the one started, it was like a domino effect. Tortured cries escaped from her. I had never heard so much pain come from anyone other than me. Although I'm not really known to care about anyone other than myself and I tried to live up to the expectation.

I turn to leave not wanting to intrude and kick a rock sitting near my foot. I cringe as it echoes down the stairs. The stranger whips around and to my utter shock, It's Granger.

"Who's there?" Her voice quakes. If she were trying to hide the fact that she was crying she needed to do better than that.

"Ters aóratos" I reverse the spell and slowly look up. I was expecting a pure look of contempt, but what I saw hit me hard. A pure look of exhaustion was settled upon her face.

She let out an almost inaudible sigh "You weren't watching that were you?"

"I-I just got here, and umm I didn't mean to um -"  _ Stuttering like baby longbottom now Malfoy? _

"Malfoy, It's okay"

I paused and made to leave but realized what she said. "It's okay?"

She looked confused, almost like she expected some hurtful things to be thrown her way. I winced realizing I probably deserved that.

"What are you doing up here?"

"Clearing my head, probably the same thing as you." Her head bows down in what I assume to be shame. She looks up after a moment and stares at me curiously. Like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.

I decided to break the silence. "I'll just go -"

"No!" The interruption was unexpected. "I mean...um. Join me?" She phrased it as a question, but I could hear the demand in her tone.

Without a word I crossed the tower and took a seat. Shortly after she relaxed and sat beside me. This is one thing I never expected. To be civil with the person who hates me most in the world. Her hatred is well deserved, but it cut deep every time she told me off throughout the years. Looking at her now, the youthful innocence I had always admired about her had vanished. In its place was this haunting look of despair I had seen a little too often upon my own face. Her once frizzy hair now lay in soft chestnut curls that were swaying in the breeze. Her eyes held a sadness I couldn't even attempt to wade through. My thoughts were interrupted.

"Could I ask you a question?" I was quite confused. Why did she want to talk to me?

"Uh, sure..." She paused before continuing.

"What did it feel like? I mean, to feel like you were trapped into the life your father led?" She seemed unsure about whether or not she was intruding. I sighed looking out into the lake laying in front of us.

"Did you ever feel like you weren't meeting your parent's expectations? Like you weren't good enough? Not just getting a E Instead of an O on your owl." I smirked while she huffed slightly "I mean the feeling of complete devastation as you stare into your parent's eyes knowing you weren't the perfect child they wanted? That you were flawed and there was nothing you could do about it."

"I can't say that my parents ever had high expectations for me, but If they did I definitely did not meet the moral standard. "She smiled ruefully "Not that it matters anymore. They aren't around."

I studied her for a moment realizing that she knew what death felt like. She had her parents fell into the hands of death sometime during the war. I knew how that felt, but my father worked his way there. It was no one's fault, but his own that he ended up in an early grave.

I started again, letting her grieve while I talk. "I always loved trying to impress my father, but no matter the situation there was always something to disappoint him leaving me lost." I paused breathing deeper "I was raised to believe the pureblood supremacy bullshit my Father valued. It was all I knew. There was no one else to set a good example. Everyone figured out long before me that Lucius Malfoy, was a Death Eater. I of course knew what this meant, Sooner rather than later, I was to accept the same fate." My voice cracked and shockingly I felt a hand rubbing my back. I whipped my head around and stared into her eyes only finding the same look of forgiveness Albus Dumbledore had given me on that fateful night.


End file.
